Asheville police on scene near downtown

9:10 PM,
Jan. 2, 2014

Asheville police command staff have set up at Martin Luther King Drive and Hazzard as a standoff continues on Max Street.

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A man repeatedly firing a gun from outside his apartment shut down an Asheville street and nearby community center Thursday, leaving some residents stranded as about 30 city officers responded to the site.

Neighbors said a man police identified as Lamonte Monsanto, 41, fired the gun multiple times over a span of about eight hours, setting up a standoff that started about noon and continued into Thursday night. Police did not think Monsanto was targeting anyone as he fired the gun from a deck.

It was the second time Thursday that police responded to the residence at 27 Max St., off of South ...